IFA MEETS EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR ON LIVE EXPORT TRADE

29 Oct 2015

IFA MEETS EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR ON LIVE EXPORT TRADE

IFA President Eddie Downey led a delegation, with the National Livestock Chairman, Henry Burns, to meet the Egyptian Ambassador, her Excellency Soha Gendi in Dublin this week on the opportunities for the reopening of the live cattle trade between Ireland and Egypt.

Eddie Downey said the meeting was very positive and Ambassador Gendi offered every assistance towards a resumption of the important live trade. He said important issues such as increasing the age to 36 months, our high health status, and our identification and registration system were all discussed at the meeting.

The IFA President said with the increase in cattle registrations this year and an estimated 130,000 additional young cattle in the country, it was never more important to reopen our international live cattle markets to countries such as Egypt. He said a strong live export trade is vital in terms of cattle price competition and providing additional market outlets.

The last time there was an active live export trade to Egypt, Ireland exported 176,486 cattle in 1995 and 107,749 cattle in 1996.